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Considering NHL Gamecenter live - any thoughts?

My internet connection is fine ... i regularly get 12-15 mbps downstream. I'm on a hard wired connection so no issues there. There is no stuttering or buffering, the picture just isn't crisp and when there's motion you get some blurring.

I had mlb.tv the past 2 years and I would agree it was better than my HD on Bell. The difference with baseball is there is no quick motions.

I love having the internet service because it allows me to watch the leafs game on TV and then flip through all the other games on my ipad but on nights when the Leafs aren't playing and i want to watch on my TV I don't think the quality is acceptable.

Take a look at the setting then. I suspect you might have the video quality set to "auto". Thats really the only reason i can see why you would get differences in quality.

I set my video quality to "3000kbps" rather then "Auto" and it has never looked bad or blurry. The only thing i did notice, as mentioned earlier was that i did buffer for me 4-5 times during the Oilers vs. Canucks.

Can I get around local blackouts if I tether the internet for my Iphone?

You can get around local blackouts using on any device that allows you to configure your network settings (specifically your DNS servers).

Essentially there are two options:

1) Unblock-us or UnoDNS - These services basically resplace your default ISP DNS servers with their own. Once you set it up (on whatever devices you want), their DNS servers will re-direct your traffic through specific proxy servers which make it looks like you are browsing from another part of the world.

This is a cheap and easy solution to get around regional blackouts, access netflix usa/uk/etc., and any other site which allows access based on geo-location.

The risk here is that when you use 3rd party DNS servers, they basically get to see ALL of your internet traffic on that device, so if they ever had "bad intentions" this would be a great place to start gather information. Hence, i would only recommend using this on your Boxee, AppleTV, Zbox, Xbox, etc. since you aren't likely to be going onto online banking or similar types of sites on those devices.

2) VPN - This is a good option but generally costs more than option 1 and requires more configuration. VPN gives you a whole bunch of other advanced network features which go beyond what we are talking about here, but among them would be the ability to bypass the regional blackouts, as long as your VPN is in another city/country than you are.

Hope this helps...

EDIT: If its just iPhone or another mobile device you are wondering about then the "GPS spoofing" is another easy solution.

Not really. There is real value in out of market games, and for about $100 for the season (the price of unblockus included) you can watch Leafs games. Not to mention the PVR capabilities, and multi-platform (in theory anyway - this Feb 1st PS3 app release bullcrap is shocking, frankly), so it's quite convenient when it works.

I see the value in it, but they REALLY fell short on day 1 - and to think that they had so much more prep time.

I'm based in Europe and the amount of games that have been blacked out so far is astonishing.

Anyone know how to get around the blackouts using the Xbox app? or is it only possible using laptops/mobile devices?

You can use that unblock-us and follow the instructions to change your router DNS.

Or you could just follow the instructions of how to change the DNS of the X-Box. Sign up for a free trial and follow the instructions. Do a google search and put in unblock-us. Should be easy enough to set up.

BTW what does gamecenter say when a game is blacked out? Cause I could watch both games this afternoon.

I also watched a replay of the Habs Leaf and the Jets Sens game. In the leaf game though even though both would have the same CBC broadcast, the leafs broadcast was unavailable. I could watch both the sens and peg broadcasts even though they were exactly the same thing.

BTW what does gamecenter say when a game is blacked out? Cause I could watch both games this afternoon.

I also watched a replay of the Habs Leaf and the Jets Sens game. In the leaf game though even though both would have the same CBC broadcast, the leafs broadcast was unavailable. I could watch both the sens and peg broadcasts even though they were exactly the same thing.

does this mean I'm still getting blacked out?

Both games this afternoon were not national broadcasts so they were not blacked out. And the blackouts typically lasts 48 hours. After 48 hours, you can watch the replays.

Basically, any game in your broadcast area, TSN, and CBC games will be blacked out.

There was no "Toronto" feed for the game on Saturday on GCL, that's not a blackout issue. As there was only one broadcast (CBC), it was assigned to Montreal as the home team I assume. If the game is blacked out you'll get a notification instead of a video that says "this game is blacked out in your viewing area etc.", even before the game starts.

My Game Center has been terrible tonight as well. Was fine for the first while then started buffering every few minutes. Not impressed at all, and my connection is usually great..

I had some issues as well, what I suggest doing is trying to use GCL on a different computer the next time you watch a game. I was having zero issues in the first period, few in the second and it started to get really bad in the third, but I restarted my computer and it played well. My CPU was running at 90% though and only gamecenter was running, I was trying to figure out how to free up some RAM.

I'm gonna try using another computer on thursday to figure out if I have to uninstall some background programs.

I had some issues as well, what I suggest doing is trying to use GCL on a different computer the next time you watch a game. I was having zero issues in the first period, few in the second and it started to get really bad in the third, but I restarted my computer and it played well. My CPU was running at 90% though and only gamecenter was running, I was trying to figure out how to free up some RAM.

I'm gonna try using another computer on thursday to figure out if I have to uninstall some background programs.

I have a bunch of devices and find most success with the ipad. Not aure why such difference. I rarely get any dropouts, if at all.

Regarding my previous complaints about quality. My experience was from Saturday afternoon when they were having all the issues. I have to say it was much better last night. Not quite Bell quality HD but pretty close. I have a Roku on one TV and a ps3 on the other. I was watching in my basement where the ps3 is and since there is no ps3 app i hooked up my ipad via an hdmi adapter. The quality was surprisingly good but the feed would keep cutting out and i would have to keep getting up to push play again every 5 minutes or so. Eventually i just gave up and watched on the ipad and it never cut out.

Just got off the phone with Game Center support. Apparently they had issues last night with XBOX 360, and iPad/iPod/iPhone Game Center apps. The buffering and quality problems are being worked on today and could be fixed by tonight.
Guess I'll give the 360 another try tonight for a game to see if the quality is better.